The Nines, the directorial debut of John August (the excellent writer of Go, Big Fish, and others) is one of the most daringly ambitious films in years. No wonder it didn't get a wide release. In a cruelly ironic twist of fate, one of the many plots in The Nines features a writer getting his project mangled by the Hollywood machine after test audiences find it too confusing. I can only imagine what executives and test audiences thought of The Nines, a complex film more concerned with theme than plot. In what is essentially three short films, Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, and Melissa McCarthy play different characters in what might be overlapping stories. Or they might not. Characters break into song, disappear in flashes of white light, might be going crazy, and so on. In other words, it's a movie David Lynch will love. And, if you go into with an open mind, you might like a lot more than you expect.

What you can't expect are easy answers or traditional storytelling. When Hope Davis broke into a slightly off-key version of "Is That All There Is" at about the 20-minute mark, I pictured all the video store patrons who will rent The Nines without any idea of the weirdness they're in for. Consider yourself warned. Ryan Reynolds, giving the best performance of his career, plays a movie star, a writer, and a video game designer who may actually be controlling the other two characters. Hope Davis plays his neighbor, TV executive, and a stranger, and the great Melissa McCarthy plays his publicist, herself, and his wife. All three shorts start to intertwine and the ending has a wham-bang twist that won't exactly put all the puzzle pieces into place, but might blow your mind. The Nines isn't perfect but it's incredibly risky and ambitious, not two words I would use to describe most Hollywood product released recently.

Sony may not have known how to handle The Nines in theaters but they do a fantastic job on DVD, giving the film the royal treatment that could help it find the cult audience it deserves. A great video and audio presentation is matched by a wonderful collection of special features. The Nines is worth renting, maybe even buying, just for the incredibly enjoyable short film, "God," which is actually a prequel to The Nines that August made with Melissa McCarthy eight years ago. In the film, Melissa plays a woman who actually has a phone friendship with the big guy upstairs and, after a drunken fight, turns to the other side for a way to get back at her vindictive friend. It's hilarious and clever and it makes you wonder, yet again, why McCarthy isn't a bigger star. She's always great and she's charming on both the "God" commentary and the one she does for The Nines. August does two commentaries, Reynolds shows up for one and the director and editor comment on an interesting collection of deleted scenes, including a wisely altered ending. "Summing Up the Nines," a photo gallery, and even a script to storyboard collection round out a wonderful collection of special features on a DVD that could be a pleasant surprise for a daring, open-minded DVD renter or buyer this winter.